What are some examples as to how being a Fluther moderator, or a Fluther community manager is stressful?
Can one learn how to handle stress to work for Fluther?
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21 Answers
Having to ban Jellies who are friends. Being bad-mouthed all over the internet after banning someone. PMs of criticism flying back and forth. Not a job for someone with a low tolerance for stress.
No one can handle that kind of stress. Studies show most moderators die of anxiety disorders within 2–3 years of duty.
Examples would include times when people get really angry and send you PMs full of hate.
I would think it would take all the joy out of participating here. I don’t know how Auggie does it. She’s got some kind of super power, because everyone else who mods usually leaves this site at some point.
I think being cyber-stalked takes the cake.
I know this site isn’t being modified any more, but why can’t PMs be muted?
I think the job of moderator is worth about 60k. That’s what I would want to get paid to do it 8 hours per day. I think that would offset the stress that it seems to cause. The arguing, the entitled people, the badmouthing, 60k I’d say.
I hit on Augie a lot. I have a powerful woman thing. I am sure that causes her stress, but she tries to handle me patiently.
I gripe, but I have a great respect for the individuals who do this job. Not being the motherly or kindly teacher type, I cannot imagine having to slap so many hands each day. Not that I do not try to get away with whatever I can.
I shudder to think at the PM’s Auggie gets. I’ve read some of the ones that were marked public on her profile, and they were seriously messed up. Idiots calling her a “zionist jew scum” because they were unhappy with being modded. Mind boggling.
I would really take that stuff to heart. That’s why I couldn’t do it.
It seems to limit their participation in Q’s, that would annoy me.
Most mods, here and elsewhere on the web, burn out within a year or two. There’s the chronic, everyday stress:
Must keep spam away! SO MUCH SPAM. A never-ending battle.
Oh, these guys are being so mean to each other. Got to calm them down.
Did I make the right call? Will the other mods agree with me?
Will this member hold a grudge? Many times, yes. FOREVER.
And then there is the critical stress during major happenings:
Huge spam attacks.
Getting over 300 emails a day during influxes of new members.
Having to ban a very popular member. Not being able to explicitly say why.
Having to ban a personal friend. Losing that friend because of it.
Reading vile, hateful things about yourself. (I’ve been called a nazi several times, and a power-hungry bitch more times than I can remember.)
Being internet stalked. For over a year.
I’ve cried on a number of occasions! It’s definitely not a job everyone would like, or be well-suited to.
It’s a good thing that most of the time, you people are lovely. <3
Well, wouldn’t everyone be lovely… compared to a Nazi?
@glacial Why would a woman be sexy, unless she had a backdoor means of turning the tables?
The email is overwhelming. If I didn’t filter some of it out it would be over a thousand emails a day. I filter out notices like “such and such a user just got banned” because 99% of those are just spam accounts and once the user is banned we don’t need to know any more. I keep track of flags and pending questions and that keeps it manageable. Its also somewhat disheartening when 95% of the new users on any given day end up being banned for spamming.
Having said that, I don’t feel too stressed about it yet, it hasn’t killed my enjoyment of the site and I have no plans for quitting just yet..
All I can say is Thank you! Thank you! We commoners have no idea of what goes on behind the scenes.
@augustlan Maybe we should establish, like an hour or two a week I should hit on you, where you husband is away, and you could tell me off vociferously?
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